  Abiator's Reading: QAR Set 05:09 ACTIVITIES |
Camouflage »»  click for audioText from: Star Flight Workbook (Published by Scott, Foresman & Company, USA) Most animals must constantly be on guard against the danger of attack from other animals or hunters. Instead of running or defending themselves, many animals merely hide from their enemies by remaining motionless and blending into their surroundings. To make this blending possible, some animals are colored the same as their usual surroundings. The brown toad, for example, is hard to spot on the brown earth, just as a speckled grouse is hard to see on its nest of speckled, brown leaves. The gray-winged moth becomes almost invisible when it lands on some gray tree bark, and the striped tiger matches the tall grass it crouches in. In order to blend with their immediate surroundings, other animals change their colors. The shrimp becomes the color of the seaweed around it. The chameleon changes its hue in a matter of seconds to match its background. The ptarmigan changes the color of its feathers to blend with seasonal backgrounds.
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Still other animals blend in because they have a shape that is like a plant or a plant part. A tree hopper on a currant or raspberry branch looks very much like a thorn. A stick caterpillar is the shape of a twig and is often mistaken for one. A sea dragon is covered with so many leaflike appendages that it looks like a clump of seaweed sitting on the ocean floor.
 » QAR concept map |  » QAR chart |  » Click for audio |  Total Marks: 10 |
 RIGHT THERE  1. Apart from using camouflage to protect themselves from predators, what else can animals do to escape, according to the article? [1 mark]
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